TechBlog from Sewell

It’s nearly every guy’s problem and nearly every girl’s pet peeve. An unorganized wire and cable mess.  If you’ve ever set up a computer, television, or other electronic items, having wires coming from all different directions can really leave a sour note for guests to see.

Luckily a company introduced a revolutionary product called “The Cable Organizer”.  It simply allows you to quickly and efficiently “tie” together many cables into a single unified outer cover. Most packages include a tool that may look strange, but can save you time and enhance your home theater room, computer area, or anything else wherever there is a wire mess.

 

The cable organizer’s come in a variety of lengths, sizes, and colors. From 100 feet of white 1 inch diameter covering to 10 feet of 3/4inch diameter black covering, you can quickly make any mess a thing of the past.

Check out Sewell Directs variety of Easy Cable Organizers.

Examples

50 feet Black

50 feet White 

10 feet White 

10 feet Black 

 

 

On your next computer purchase, it’s important to choose the right option for your needs. Sewell Direct offers many types of PC cases as well as internal accessories. So, what are the advantages or disadvantages of building your own PC?

Advantages
Customization - When choosing components of your computer, everything is fair game in terms of what you want to purchase. Anything from the color of your case to how many PCI slots you want your choice. Being able to choose also aids in upgradeability. When you want to upgrade your hard drive, processor, or motherboard, typically the case you choose will be universal and can adapt to many types of configurations.

Costs - At times, you can find certain expensive components of a custom computer on sale or discounted. This can save you money initially when making your own system and help you decide on which components to buy.

No Crapware – Most major manufactures install crapware, or software that has a free trial or provides a service you will never use and thus, taking up valuable resources. By installing a fresh copy of Windows or Linux, you can avoid that mess all together.

Disadvantages
Cost – Only a few years ago, building your PC was the way to go to save money. You could really save a lot of cash initially. Now with Dell, HP, Apple, and other manufactures battling to get their system in your office, prices have tumbled. You can get a reasonably good pre-built system for around 600-800 dollars.

No combined warranty – When purchasing parts, many manufactures will provide a 1 year limited warranty. However, it’s hard to keep track of which part came from where and how long the warranty is. Sometimes it’s hard claiming an exchange or repair from a company overseas. With a major manufacture, you could purchase up to 3-5 years of coverage which includes the entire system.

Operating System – Generally when building your own computer, it doesn’t include an operating system, let alone, any software for that matter. Purchasing a retail copy of Windows will run you a few hundred dollars. When installing Linux or some other open-source operation system, you don’t need to worry about cost since most distributions of Linux are completely free.

Knowhow – Although it’s much easier to build a computer today then it was, lets say, five years ago, you still need to know the in’s and out’s of drivers. When building your own system, plan on spending Friday night downloading new drivers and reading forums as to why your video card won’t display more then 256 colors.

Verdict
If you’re interested in customization (hardware and software), try building your own PC next time. If you’re not comfortable with putting a PC together, let Dell build one for you this time around.

Check out Sewell Direct’s PC Cases.

Today we received this email from one of our customers:

“Nathan gave superb customer service last week, and I would like to send him a thank you email. If possible, could you please forward an email address for him? Thank you. Because of his expediting a shipment beyond the call of duty, we managed to pull off a demonstration for George Lucas and Steven Spielberg by the skin of our teeth.

http://interactive.usc.edu/members/sfisher/archives/2006/10/george_trys_an.html

is one of the photos from the event.”

By reccomendation of a friend, I just purchased the Monster GameLink Xbox 360 Component A/V Cable. I am completely amazed at the picture and sound my Xbox 360 is now putting out. I had my doubts before my purchase that this cable would make such a difference, but it truly does improve the already great system. Lately, I have been engrossed in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. After switching to the new cable, the game looked so much more vibrant. Details in the environment that were not visible before are now perfectly clear. Even the loading screens look better. At $51.95, this cable is a must have. It is even cheaper than retail, which is $59.95. Thanks Scott for recommending it, I had no idea the Xbox 360 could look this good.

Engadget reports that Apple has included a warning against using the MacBook Pro on your lap in the notebook’s documentation. The manual states:

“Do not leave the bottom of your MacBook Pro in contact with your lap or any surface of your body for extended periods. Prolonged contact with your body could cause discomfort and potentially a burn.”

There are also several other health risks associated with using a notebook computer on your lap, according to this article by Cameron Postelwait.

That said, Sewell Direct, ever conscious of the health and well-being of our customers, has the answer that will still allow you to use your notebook as a laptop without having to stress about burns, discomfort, or infertility. Check out the XPad Laptop Heatshield, available for a mere pittance: $24.95. As mom always used to say, nothing’s more important than your health.

If you’ve been thinking about jumping on the VoIP bandwagon but just cant bear to part with your old trusty land line phone, you’re in luck. The USB Telebox Adapter for VoIP lets you connect your standard phone and use it for VoIP and regular phone calls. This box loves to make it easy, letting you switch between the two lines with a simple touch of the * button on your phone. Realistically, this is a great option if you want to use a wireless phone for your VoIP line without having to have two sets of phones lying around.

For those looking to upscale, check out the USB VOIP Analog Phone Adapter from Manhattan. It does the same thing.

Here at SewellDirect.com, we are dedicated to products that make the world a better, safer place. For example, we used to stock the Iomega Rearview Monitor Mirror to help alleviate potentially deadly shocks from coworkers (or bosses) surprising you from behind. We provide the XPad Laptop Heatshield in order to help you protect yourself from unpleasant laptop burns. And now, we bring you the VR3 Car Rear Back-Up Camera System w/ Color LCD Monitor.

This quality rear view car camera system mounts unobtrusively above your licence plate, where it maintains a watchful, silent vigil over the regions behind your vehicle. Meanwhile, you can see what the camera sees via a color LCD monitor mounted inside the vehicle, giving you a great view behind you without making you crane your neck to see over the rear deck of your car. The kit even includes all the wiring and mounting equipment to make life easy on you.

As a side anecdote, I really think my dad could use one of these. He drives a ridiculously large Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel pickup truck with a shell. I’ve lost track of how many times he’s backed into poles, pillars and fences, not to mention all the stuff (e.g. lawnmower, bicycle, athletic equipment) he’s run over because he couldn’t see behind him. I feel a birthday present coming on…

Here are some quick instructions for getting to the device manager on your Win2000/XP computer:

1. Right click on My Computer
2. Left click on Properties

The following screen should pop up:

3. Click on the Hardware tab
4. Click on the Device Manager button

You will see the Device Manager popup:

As I ponder back on my fragmented childhood, one thing stays constant, my talking bear friend Teddy Ruxpin. Well, technology has come a long way since good old Teddy.

Teddy was designed as a means to keep children entertained. Although entertainment is a good thing, it does not use the full potential of utils in this care/provider relationship. Bears can be a great tool to check up on your children. Just check out the hidden bear camera at Sewell Direct.

You can use this camera to capture special moments of your developing baby. Besides that, teddy bears are always much cuter than goofy looking monitoring systems. The camera is hidden in the bowtie. This also has a microphone built into it.

I recently had a questions about the Wireless VGA Extender and how many you could use within a close proximity. I called the manufacturer and they said that you can connect up to 8 within 100 feet of each other. There’s only one trick. Make sure you boot the sender and the receiver in their respective pairs. That way they don’t cross connect. But as long as you use that as a rule of thumb, you can’t go wrong! It’s great for businesses and someone even wanted to use them in surgery rooms.